Breast cancer is a malignant tumor that develops in the breast. According to statistics, one fifth of women around the world have this disease. Most often, the disease overtakes those of the fair sex who are 50 years old.
Reasons
Over the past decades, breast cancer has become the leading cause of death for women aged 35-55. There are several reasons for this. The first is the bad ecology of the entire planet. The second is the reluctance of many women to give birth and breastfeed a child, and breastfeeding is known to reduce the risk of this disease.
Very often, breast cancer is the result of mastopathy and fibroadenoma. In addition, it has been proven that the risk of developing the disease increases significantly if a woman abuses smoking and drinking alcohol.
Serious breast injury is another reason why breast cancer could occur, the photo of which you will see below. It is also known that women who get rid of their first pregnancy are much more likely to suffer from this disease.
Symptoms
- Formation of a seal in the mammary gland.
- Red discharge from nipples.
- Changing the contour and shape of the breast.
- Change in the shape of the nipple - sunken or inverted.
- Swollen lymph nodes in the armpits, under and above the collarbone.
- Changing the structure, color and general appearance of the breast skin.
- Strong breast tenderness.
Treatment
Depending on the stage of the disease, the methods of its treatment may be different. As a rule, a set of measures is used, which include: surgery, radiation therapy, hormone therapy and chemotherapy. At the same time, they try to carry out organ-preserving measures, but each specific case is individual. Therefore, sometimes the removal of the mammary glands is the only measure that can overcome breast cancer. The operation prevents the formation of metastases in other organs.
Prevention
To prevent the occurrence of such an insidious disease as breast cancer, every woman needs a regular (every month) examination of the mammary glands. Moreover, it can be performed independently as follows:
- Standing in front of a mirror, a woman should examine the appearance of her breasts and nipples to see if their shape has changed.
- Next, she needs to raise her hands and examine her chest again - first in front, and then left and right.
- In the next step, in a standing position, the woman needs to press on the upperthe outer quarter of the chest with middle fingers and gentle movements to probe the gland down in a clockwise direction. Seek medical attention if there are any changes.
- Next, you need to squeeze the nipple between the forefinger and thumb on one and then on the other breast, and check if there is any discharge from them. If there is, then you should see a doctor.
- Then in the supine position, examine each quarter of the breasts in a clockwise direction.
At the last stage of self-examination, which can prevent breast cancer, a woman should determine if the lymph nodes are enlarged - if so, run to the doctor.
